July 04, 2005
A set of notes on alchemy
by Isaac Newton has been rediscovered. Newton was a dedicated alchemist. These people and these should be excited. A short biography is here.
For a long time I thought Newton's alchemy was helpful to his science: in particular that it allowed him to formulate the theory of gravity when more orthodox scientists still thought action at a distance was an absurdity. But actually that's not true - both Newton's arch-enemy Hooke and Christopher Wren had apparently thought of the inverse-square law: the only difference was that Newton could actually do the maths which made it more than a hypothesis.
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neil stephenson has lots about newton's fascination with alchemy in his three-volume baroque cycle (quicksilver, the confusion, the system of the world).
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But who was Fulcanelli?
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I believe he was from planet Fulcan.
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/sings Fulcan fight music
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Are you out of your Fulcan mind???!1!1 /spittle
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/raises eyebrow enigmatically /resumes quest for Philosopher's Stone
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THAT wch is below is like that wch is above & that wch is above is like yt wch is below to do ye Miracles of one only thing.
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Cool - thanks Pleggers!
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The most interesting thing i heard about Newton is that he was Master of the Mint, kind of like the governor of the central Bank of England. Which is neat. That's like having Alan Greenspan invent string theory.
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Yes, that is interesting. He became Warden of the Mint first, and subsequently Master. Previous holders had treated it as a sinecure, whereas Newton took his contract literally. Counterfeiting was rife, and Newton at first asked to be relieved of the duty of suppressing it, but when that was refused he set about the job with typical intensity. Before long, the Warden's gangs of well-paid thugs were the terror of East London. Through ruthless and unrelenting pursuit of even minor offences (and the introduction of milled edges on the coinage) Newton managed to change counterfeiting from a near-universal practice to a crime which even the most hardened villains steered clear of. Alas, he made relatively little money out of the job, whereas his idle predecessors - one way and another - had made fortunes out of it.
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Newton was also a friend of Samuel Pepys, but after Newton's probable breakdown, he broke off the friendship, claiming Pepys was a papist (Catholic - completely unlikely as Pepys always had protestant, if somewhat liberal, leanings). Pepys, I believe, was president of the Royal Society at the time. I'd love to have a time machine, this would be one of the eras I'd visit. Newton also never had sex. I'm sure he had deduced the existance of it, however.
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From the Power of Gold by P. Bernstein on Newton's time as Master of the Mint: Newton, "this once puritanical introvert began to frequent the lowest public houses in the city to arrange secret meetings with informants from the brothels and gin houses. He carried out interrogations and attended hangings, always keeping detailed accounts of everything". Greenspan governs Federal Reserve, invents string theory *and* runs Guantanamo.
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The chymistry of Isaac Newton.
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Great PBS show on Newton which I missed most of. :/
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"A long-lost 17th century manuscript charting the birth of modern science has been found gathering dust in a cupboard in a Hampshire home." Guardian story on discovery of Robert Hooke's handwritten minutes of early Royal Society meetings. Surfing round the Bonham's site linked above can't work out if the manuscript was sold as planned on March 28 or not.
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Happily, there was a last-minute deal enabling the Royal Society to buy the papers for about £1m.
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It's free access until December, after which you pay per article it seems, so get downloading.
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La Très Sainte Trinosophie
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Isaac Newton's belief in spirits and alchemy may have been essential to achieving his towering scientific achievement: gravity. A new science and arts festival begins this weekend to explore this complex man